1911 recording

Calace prelude, but not Calace performing

http://cylinders.library.ucsb.edu/se...ber&query=7060

Though Wikipedia describes Demetrius C. Dounis, the performer in this recording of Calace's Op. 45, no. 1 prelude, as a violinist and musician's doctor, Paul Sparks, in The Classical Mandolin, writes that Boston's "most famous [mandolin] soloist was Demetrius C. Dounis (to whom Calace dedicated his Prelude No. 2, Op.49)". Thanks for the opportunity to hear this performance!

Joe Bartl

Great playing on both items! Thanks for posting.

I've only known Dounis as the author of a series of books of exercises and studies for violinists, including this one I worked through (on guitar) long ago:

The Absolute Independence of the Fingers in Violin Playing on a Scientific Basis (in 2 Books), Op. 15 (1924)

Some real finger-busting exercises there. :disbelief: Nice to know that the author really was a fine virtuoso player as well as a scientific pedagogue.

Dounis was a fine composer of unaccompanied mandolin solos in his own right. You can get some taste of that here: http://www.neilgladd.com/Publications/NGP%201002.html.

I have compiled some information about Dounis including sources/clippings from The Crescendo in my German blog http://www.gezupftes.de/?p=14703
It's based on a thesis about Dounis: https://open.bu.edu/handle/2144/12231